Iranian Cultures and Arts

For the sake of brevity, I did not include the following Iranian roots in the Director's bio on the official movie site DavidandLayla.com nor on IMDB.com that are meant for the general public. I mention these Iranian elements hoping they might be interesting to those who have seen or will see David & Layla.

David & Layla opens in New York (Feb 15), Chicago (Feb 22), San Francisco (Mar 7), Sacramento (Mar 21.) More cities are listed at the movie site.

Layla is played by Persian American Hollywood actress Shiva Rose. Shiva is the daughter of the grand showman of Iranian TV, the legendary Parviz Gharib-Afshar now with Tapesh TV.

My grandparents were born on the Iranian side of Kurdistan. They came from the Jwanrood Mountain and Jwanroyee tribe that spread on both sides of the border between Iran and modern Iraq (a British invented state forcing a Kurdish region to be united to a mostly Arab nation.) Hence the adoption in England of the simplified Jonroy or Janroy as my last name.

Iranian & Kurdish music in David & Layla. I play music (harmonica) from the age of 10. But there were no music school to attend in my town. I was good at higher math and later won a scholarship to England to study sciences. But music was and still is my first love. I collect world music. The French rightly call cinema, 'Le Septieme Art", the Seventh Art as movies came after man's other six principal arts.  Music, Painting and Oral stories are three of Man's earliest arts. The best films use and judiciously mix all of the six arts to end up with the Seventh, the ultimate art- Cinema!

David & Layla - a Jewish Muslim love story - is partly told through music. Hence the use of about 50 music cues: almost wall-to-wall music!   

Besides Jewish Klezmer and Jazz of David's New York world, the film’s score features the mysterious, sad and exuberant dancing music of the Iranian Persian and Kurdish artists to evoke Layla's world:  Kayhan Kalhor ,  Ali Akbar Moradi, The Kamkars, Abbas Kamendi,...

(Plus the sexy music of Arab Middle East including Arabic belly dancing music in the Omar Khayaam Club scene in David & Layla.)

I was born in Sulaymani on the Iraqi side of Kurdistan. Sulaymani is the 'cultural' capital of Kurdistan. It is considered to be a sister city to Senneh (Sanandaji) on the Iranian side. The famous Senneh kilims come from Senneh that Ottoman Empire re-named Sanandaj. (One marvelous Senneh is displayed here at The New York Met Museum.)

My mother's name was Aftab (Sun's beam?) spelled/pronounced Aftaw in Kurdish (similarly Shab is Shaw, night, etc.)  Layla's aunt in the film is based on my mother. She is named Aftaw Khan. Before and during early Islam, some Kurdish regions and tribes had women leaders or Pashas as also in ancient Persia. Therefore in Kurdish both men and women to this date can have the Khan title. Perhaps, hence the current 'feminine' derivative, Khanem, after a lady's name. My dad named me Jalal, after Jalal aldin Rumi. 

My dad was always quoting us old 'unknown' Kurdish and famous Persian proverbs and poems- especially Hafez and Saadi. In the afternoons we used to listen to half an hour long radio programs of Iranian music & singers - Delkash...-  rather than short popular Arab songs transmitted from the capital of Baghdad beamed to all Iraq, ignoring that the inhabitants of the mountains and valleys of so called "North" of Iraq were not Arabs.

Our maids and village women were mesmerizing us by telling us in Kurdish the stories of Shirin o Farhad (Khosrow o Shirin) and Rostam o Zal....and  of magical and adventurous stories full of 'Dew"s and "Khew"s and heroes and lovers of the never ending tales of  Hazar O Yak Shaw- 1001 Nights. Later I re-read many of these tales in English in London in a book entitled Arabian Nights!  What grand theft, thanks to Islam!

Kurdish poems, songs and names of men and women to this date are full of innocent/natural references to women's sensual fruits and to men's masculinity and animal prowess. Other names are after Nature's sights, sounds and aromas. Hanar- pomegranate - is a typical Kurdish woman's name as is Shawnam (Shabnam), the early morning Dew. And lovely, lively, happy and tasty names like Shirin, Nazanin, Pershing (spark), Pari, Mozhda (happy news!)... And for men, Sherko (Lion's son!), Bahman, Azad (Free or Brave), Shamal (Breeze), Hiwa (Hope)…

What a disaster to Iranian Persian and Kurdish lives and cultures that they should be invaded by a boring, alien Islamic Arab, arid desert and limited names such as  Mohammed, Abbas, Ali and Fatima! And all of those pious but unnatural humans of Mullas, Imams and Ayat O Allah's!

Every Newroz (Norooz) we took off to picnic in the countryside by cold streams rushing down from snowy mountains....with fires at night on roof tops and on hills to celebrate Norooz which was not known, let alone officially recognized, by Iraqi government.

Then we went to school which was administered by Arabic Capital of Iraq. Therefore we were only taught Islam and Arabic language and Arabs' literature and Arabs' glorious history.  There was never one iota's reference to Kurdish let alone Persian (prior) religions, language, poetry or history. Jewish-Muslim romantic comedy

David & Layla won against World's 'Love' films including 2 Days in Paris, Lady Chatterley, and La Vie en Rose at World's oldest Amour film fest held during Valentine in Europe.  

David & Layla was featured in the Panorama's Closing Night at the Verona/Italy’s International Amore Film Fest as a re-interpretation of Romeo & Juliet.2008 Premieres of David & Layla start at art houses & Sundance cinemas:

Feb 15 New York at the Quad Cinema.
Feb 22 Chicago at Gene Siskel Film Center.
March 7 San Francisco at Sundance Cinemas/Kabuki Theater.
March 7 Madison at Sundance Cinemas.
March 14 Westhampton NY at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.
March 21 Sacramento CA at The Crest.

More Cities Cinemas Showtimes, Tickets: //www.davidandlayla.com/cinemas.html.
Trailer & Reviews: //www.davidandlayla.com/  Jan Janroy aka Jalal Jonroy, writer/producer/director, David & Layla